Digital (Global) Capitalism and Re-Globalization

Abstract Although in a constant flux of change and transformation, globalization is undergoing a phase that prominent scholars define as “re-globalization” or “de-globalization.” Yet, the research addressing the emergence of a new form of social (collective) imaginary, the “techno-symbolic global imaginary”, which is supported by the “algorithmic ideology” of ‘digital (global) capitalism’, requires deeper and more nuanced investigation. While acknowledging the importance of the economic aspect of globalization, this paper, as a methodological intervention, explores the relationship between aesthetic practices and the global media industry to better understand how digital technology is affecting structures of power and, at a deep-subjective level, people’s social imaginaries and ideologies. It investigates how the new spirit of capitalism is inscribed in the global fabric of search algorithms, leading to the “re-globalization” of the world as never experienced before. To support my argument, I examine the current visual-discursive regime of the ‘global’ by conducting a step-by-step analytical comparative case study that shows how, both in the United Stated and in The People’s Republic of China, in different sociopolitical contexts and visual regimes, the new paradigm shift of reglobalization needs to be better understood and explained.